British Damage Nassau Hall During Occupation

During the British occupation of Princeton from December 1776 to January 1777, soldiers used Nassau Hall as a barracks. They burned furniture and woodwork for fuel, destroyed or carried off the college's library and scientific instruments, and damaged the building's interior. The philosophical apparatus — scientific equipment used for teaching — was particularly targeted. Witherspoon later estimated the damage to the college at thousands of pounds. The destruction was not limited to Nassau Hall; the entire campus and several private homes in Princeton were similarly treated. The vandalism reflected both the practical needs of soldiers quartered in a cold winter and a deliberate disregard for colonial institutions.